Seven Seed Crusted Teriyaki Paneer-Crunchy Asian Salad

Seven Seed Crusted Teriyaki Paneer-Crunchy Asian Salad as you read the name you can imagine the flavours. I grantee you, what so ever you are trying to make sense of this dish, you are thinking less. Not to doubt your judgement, but I have to mention that the dish had a complexity of flavours and the depth in the texture. The character of each ingredient was played together so well, it gave a harmony and contrast to the palate, every single time it was tasted. This was prepared by Aprana Surte of Peckish.

Aparna is a self-taught cook and food stylist who loves exploring diverse cuisines from all over the globe. In her previous career as an Architectural Consultant and Historic Preservationist, she has travelled, tasted and cooked her way across the United States. She now uses her keen eye for detail, artistic sensibilities and cooking skills with her culinary venture Peckish, doing food styling, conducting cooking workshops and hosting gourmet pop-up meals.

Seven Seed Crusted Teriyaki Paneer Crunchy Asian Salad

It was great to have her on board at the meet-up of The Secret Gourmands Club. The task for this month was to create a dish highlighting our star ingredient, “Edible Seeds”. This dish had seven different seeds coating the paneer – sesame, fennel, nigella, pumpkin, watermelon, pomegranate and poppy seeds; two different seeds in the dressing – mustard seeds in the form of Dijon mustard and sesame seeds AND is garnished with caramelised fox nuts (or lotus seeds) and pomegranate seeds.

Aprana Says – Don’t be intimidated by the three part recipe. It’s fairly simple once you gather all your ingredients and equipment together. I hope you enjoy this tasty and healthy Asian-style salad that I have put together for you. Happy cooking! ~ Aparna

Equipment

Medium mixing bowl
Small sized saucepan
Large skillet
Large plate
Small mixing bowl

Instructions

Make the teriyaki marinade. Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, ⅛ cup water, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil to a medium bowl. Mix well. Add half of the marinade to a zip lock bag and the other half to a small saucepan and set aside.

Marinate the paneer steaks. Place the paneer steaks in the ziplock bag and marinate for 30 minutes.

Coat the marinated paneer with seeds. Mix the seven seeds together on a large plate and coat each paneer steak thoroughly with the seed mixture.

Pan fry the seed coated paneer steaks. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the paneer steaks making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Make the teriyaki glaze. Meanwhile, heat the reserved marinade in the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add cornstarch and water to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture to the marinade and simmer until thickened.

Instructions

Gather ingredients and equipment. Arrange an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 125°C. Line the baking sheet with parchment. Keep all the ingredients and equipment you need handy.

Make the caramel sauce. Melt the butter in the saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar. Mix thoroughly. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, boil for 3-4 minutes while stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan continuously. Be careful not to burn the caramel sauce. The more you cook it, the crunchier the caramel will be.

Add the vanilla, salt, baking soda, and red chilli powder. Off the heat, add the vanilla, salt, baking soda, and red chilli powder, and stir until combined. The sugar mixture will bubble up violently. Continue stirring until you form a thick, glossy sauce.

Combine the caramel sauce and fox nuts. Slowly pour the caramel sauce over the fox nuts while stirring the fox nuts. Continue stirring in the sauce until all of the fox nuts are coated.

Bake the caramel fox nuts. Spread the caramel coated fox nuts on the baking sheet into an even layer. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes and breaking up any clumps.

Let cool completely. Let the fox nuts cool completely on the baking sheets. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to a week.